ARTS & CULTURE

In Mesa, at every turn you see a nod to the arts from the more than 200 sculptures lining our downtown streets to the galleries and artist studios full of apprentices and masters. It's clear to any guest experiencing our charms for the first time that Mesa is a desert city teeming with an exuberant arts and cultural spirit. Immerse yourself in an oasis of arts and culture.

We offer the largest arts and entertainment complex in the Southwest, Mesa Arts Center, itself an architectural showpiece and canvas for art shows and performances from around the world. The Mesa Arts Center has become of the most unique gathering places for any art aficionado visiting the Valley of Sun, with intention. An inviting oasis by day and a luminous beacon by night, the design of Mesa Arts Center was inspired by the unique character of the Sonoran Desert - a rich desert, mountain
and canyon environment. The campus includes a complex of four theaters, Mesa Contemporary Arts' galleries and exhibition space, two Art Studios buildings with 14 visual and performing arts studios and classrooms, informal performance areas, administrative support space, and a 700-foot Shadow Walk that creates an inviting, shaded outdoor oasis.

In addition to the Mesa Arts Center, Mesa is home to many museums including the i.d.e.a. Museum, a brand new children's museum, the Arizona Museum of Natural History, and the Mesa Historical Museum, housing the famous Play Ball exhibit.

For those who prefer a more natural beauty, we likewise offer a number of famed exhibits, including a renowned 110-acre Riparian Preserve, 500 species of birds filling our Sonoran Desert skies, and spring wildflowers covering the desert floor along the dramatic Superstition Mountains.